Friday, June 5, 2015

Pushkaralu
(in Telugu), [Pushkaram] is a festival of worshipping rivers. From time immemorial, rivers are considered
sacred in India. Ganges is supreme,
while for Srivaishnavaites, river Cauvery is considered sacred than Ganges
itself. I do not know the source but this song penned
by Vaali for Maha Nathi was so impressive :

The famed Godavari Pushkaralu is days away, slated to commence
on 14th July 2o15. The temple
town of Bhadrachalam is expected to witness a congregation of over a crore
devotees during the 12 day event, while there would slightly lesser crowds at
Godavari bridge near Rajahmundry and Kovvur.

Rivers are
sacred, important, source of fertility,
providing employment opportunities to people, keeping them happy and
healthy. It is nearer major rivers,
civilizations prospered. Ganga, Yamuna, Narmada, Mahanadi, Brahmaputra; Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas and Sutlej;
Kaveri, Godavari, Krishna, Palaru, Pennar, Thamarabarani – there are so many of them. Most of the holy places in India like,
Varanasi, Haridwar, Talakaveri, Nasik, Ujjain, Patna, Bhadrachalam, Sri Rangam
are situated along with the banks of
holy rivers. The Triveni Sangam in Allahabad is a confluence of 3 rivers
the Ganges, Yamuna, and the mythological Saraswati river.

The Godavari is the
second longest river in India after the river Ganga. It starts in Maharashtra
and flows for 1,465 kilometres (910 mi) into the Bay of Bengal via the states
of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. It forms one of the largest river basins in
India. From its source in Western ghats,
Godavari flows eastwards across the Deccan Plateau enters West Godavari and then East Godavari until it splits into
watercourses that widen into a large fertile river delta, flowing into Bay of
Bengal. It splits into Vriddha Gautami
(Gautami Godavari) and Vasishta Godavari. Again the branch Gautami splits into
two branches namely Gautami and Nilarevu. Similarly the Vasishta splits into
two branches named Vasishta and Vainateya.

A unique Godavari
cleanliness drive under the aegis of Green Kumbh is being undertaken on June 5
by 22,000 volunteers and about 125 organisations at 69 points on Godavari,
Nasardi and Kapila on the occasion of World Environment Day. Led by divisional
commissionerate, the district administration, zilla parishad and the Nashik
Municipal Corporation, large-scale preparations have been made to clean the
river in and around the city.

Rivers have made
people rich – people consider river sacred and the Postal
Department is planning to make some money by selling seven lakh bottles of
Godavari water during the 12-day Pushkaram. A Rajahmundry-based
ISI-certified water purification and bottling company, Sapphire, would be
in-charge of making the river water drinkable. The bottles are to be priced Rs. 20 each and will contain 500 ml of
water that the Postal Department has named ‘GOD-JAL’ after ‘Godavari Jalam’.
The department began the booking process on Wednesday.

Chief
Post Master-General (CPMG), Andhra Pradesh Circle, is quoted as saying that going
by the initial appreciation from the general public, the department would have
to produce more bottles as the demand was expected to cross 20 lakh by July 14,
the last date for placing booking. Those interested can purchase the bottles
from any of the 16,150 post offices in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Believers
from across the country and those residing in other countries can also place
online orders on www.appost.in/eshop. Delivery charges
will not be applicable within the State though the overseas orders will draw
extra delivery rates. Purchases from abroad can be made only by using American
Express or Diner cards. If the Godavari bottle water project clicks, the
department is planning to start bottling water from the Ganga too after
acquiring permission from the respective State governments, according to the
official.

The sale of water
is part of the postal department’s revenue generation plans for the year
2015-16. The Andhra Pradesh circle of the Postal Department, comprising the
twin States of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, had had a steady growth in revenue
over the past three years due to strict implementation of projects that
attracted public interest, it is stated.
The Postal department is on an expansion spree – is set to open 14 new
post offices and eight sub post offices at the mandal level this year; while Six new branches are to be opened at the village level.

Tailpiece : In India, many trains are named after
rivers. Godavari Express is one of the
most prestigious trains of South Central Railway running between Visakhapatnam and Hyderabad. It was
introduced as the Waltair-Hyderabad express in Feb 1974 with the train numbers being 7007 and
7008. Its current train numbers are 12727 and 12728. Despite the two new
trains, Garib Rath and Duronto on the same route, the demand for the Godavari Express is high, that sometimes an unreserved coach is
replaced with an extra Classic Sleeper or Third Class coach. Godavari Express connects
the cities of four coastal districts in
Andhra Pradesh to the state capital, In united Andhra Pradesh, now the capital
of Telangana Hyderabad. The train stops at four stations in the Visakhapatnam
district, six stations in the East Godavari district, three stations in the
West Godavari district and Vijayawada in the Krishna district.